N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron paid a pre-Christmas visit to French soldiers in Chad on Saturday, bringing enough champagne, foie gras and chocolate for 1,300 troops along with him. Macron landed at Kossei air base near N’Djamena, the nerve centre of Operation Barkhane, a four-year campaign …
Read More »Macron’s ratings fall further after month of protests
Paris, France | AFP | A month of “yellow vest” protests have taken a further toll on the popularity of French President Emmanuel Macron, a new poll showed Sunday, with analysts saying he will be forced to change his style of governing. Around 66,000 protesters turned out again on Saturday …
Read More »France tells Trump to stop interfering in its politics
Paris, France | AFP | The French government on Sunday urged Donald Trump not to interfere in French politics after the US president posted tweets about the protests rocking the country and attacked the Paris climate agreement. “We do not take domestic American politics into account and we want that …
Read More »Will Macron’s U-turn stop France’s ‘yellow vest’ protests?
Paris, France | AFP | The French government has announced a major U-turn in suspending fuel tax rises in a bid to end increasingly violent demonstrations. But who are the “yellow vest” protesters, and will the tax relief and other concessions be enough to mollify their anger? – Who …
Read More »Macron acknowledges protests, but won’t ‘change course’
Paris, France | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron sought to take the heat out of mass anti-government protests over taxes on Tuesday, saying he had heard the anger but would not change course. The 40-year-old centrist acknowledged that many struggling households felt penalised by an increase in fuel taxes …
Read More »Macron to address nation after violent Paris protests
Paris, France | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron is to address his nation on Tuesday following persistent and sometimes violent protests over fuel taxes that are morphing into a movement against his business- and environment-friendly policies. Paris saw clashes between police and demonstrators Saturday on the Champs-Elysees where barricades …
Read More »French prosecutors open inquiry into Macron campaign financing
Paris, France | AFP | Paris prosecutors have launched an inquiry into the origins of thousands of euros donated to President Emmanuel Macron’s election campaign last year, a legal source told AFP on Tuesday. The move follows an alert from France’s campaign finance oversight body this month, after it was …
Read More »Macron says strong Europe needed to prevent global ‘chaos’
Berlin, Germany | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday urged a Franco-German push to make Europe a stronger and more confident global player that could prevent “chaos” on the world stage. Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have used a series of war anniversaries to project unity as …
Read More »Macron, Merkel, UN chief target Trump’s world view
Paris, France | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UN chief Antonio Guterres took turns in warning about the dangers of nationalism on Sunday as they marked the centenary of the end of World War I. Without mentioning US President Donald Trump by name, all …
Read More »Trump to snub Macron’s ‘Peace Forum’ on Armistice weekend
Paris, France | AFP | US President Donald Trump is set to snub a peace conference organised by French President Emmanuel Macron this weekend as part of World War I commemorations in Paris, organisers said Thursday. Trump is due in the French capital along with around 70 other leaders for …
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